The opera "Doi Nhu Y" by Tran Huu Trang Theater was written from the story of the same name by writer Nguyen Ngoc Tu - Photo: LINH DOAN
Not only New Stage, many stages in the city such as Tran Huu Trang Opera House, Young World Stage, Hoang Thai Thanh Stage, Hong Van Stage... all have scripts written from Nguyen Ngoc Tu's stories currently on display.
Nguyen Ngoc Tu's stories "overwhelm" the theater stage
If you ask which writer's work is most popular for authors to adapt and create in Ho Chi Minh City's theater scene today, it is probably Nguyen Ngoc Tu.
The "champion" title belongs to Hoang Thai Thanh stage. Currently, there are 6-7 plays performed at this stage inspired by short stories by Nguyen Ngoc Tu. Some examples include Mut chi Mut Ca Tha (written from the story Thuong qua rau ram ), Half a life of bewilderment (from the story Chieu vang ), Bao gio song can (from the story Dong nho ), Mo trang bong nuoc (from the story Tinh lo ), Rau ram o lai (from the story Oi cai ve dau ), Tra lai lia thia (from the story Cui rot troi ve )...
Among them, the play Half a Life of Stupidity set a record when it was able to perform more than 150 times, and is a typical tragedy of Hoang Thai Thanh Theater. Other plays such as Bao gio song can, Rau ram o lai ... brought countless tears to the audience.
Director Bui Quoc Bao of the Young World stage admits that he is a fan of writer Nguyen Ngoc Tu. He was inspired to create three scripts from Nguyen Ngoc Tu's stories. They are the scripts Doi Nhu Y, Ong Gia Doan Lo To (from the story Oi Cai Ve Dau ) and Do Tinh (from the story Ben Do Xom Mieu ).
Playwright Hoang Song Viet has adapted two cai luong scripts from Nguyen Ngoc Tu's stories, Hiu hiu gio bac and Doi Nhu Y. The two plays were staged by Tran Huu Trang Theater to compete in the national cai luong festival and included in the performance schedule for the audience.
The play "Life of Nhu Y" was also inspired by Hong Van Drama Theater to be adapted into the play "Love is love, but love is only love" . The story "Endless Field" by Nguyen Ngoc Tu was once directed by Minh Nguyet to compete in the national drama festival.
The play The Old Man of the Bingo Troupe by The World Youth Stage - Photo: LINH DOAN
Oi cai ve dau, Doi Nhu Y, Hiu hiu gio bac have both spoken and reformed versions, recorded and broadcast on Ho Chi Minh City Television. Almost every year , Doi Nhu Y, Hiu hiu gio bac are chosen by students to be staged for their graduation plays in directing.
The author and director couple Minh Nhat - Nhu Truc of New Stage made three drama projects, two of which were based on stories by Nguyen Ngoc Tu.
"Seeing me working from Ms. Tu's works, many people think I'm from the West. I was born and raised in Ho Chi Minh City, but we love Ms. Tu's literature, so we sympathize with her works. After these two plays, I still have many ideas to exploit from Ms. Tu's works" - Minh Nhat confided.
It's not easy to make a good play.
Many authors, directors, and theater producers, when asked why they chose to stage plays based on Nguyen Ngoc Tu's stories, expressed their conviction and love for Nguyen Ngoc Tu's works and writing style.
Artist Ai Nhu of Hoang Thai Thanh stage shared with Tuoi Tre : "Right from the literary work, Nguyen Ngoc Tu's stories have brought many emotions to readers. We realized that Tu's stories have things that are very suitable for the stage. There are stories and writing styles that tell about human fates and lives that are very real, simple, and close to life."
The play Half a Life of Naivety, inspired by the story Empty Afternoon by Nguyen Ngoc Tu, is considered a typical work of Hoang Thai Thanh Theater - Photo: GIA TIEN
Two smoothly adapted scripts by playwright Hoang Song Viet from Nguyen Ngoc Tu's stories have left their mark on the cai luong stage.
He recognized that Nguyen Ngoc Tu's stories built a context and space filled with the essence of the Western river region with emotional characters that remind people of the typical qualities of Ho Bieu Chanh's stories in the past.
Therefore, Nguyen Ngoc Tu's story would be "perfectly suitable" if it were adapted into a reformed opera.
Bui Quoc Bao is originally from the West, so he has great sympathy for Nguyen Ngoc Tu's stories. "It is difficult to find any author who writes about the West, the Western characters are as precise and emotional as Nguyen Ngoc Tu.
"She builds each character as a story with a unique and special destiny, which greatly inspires authors and directors to want to bring her work to the stage" - Quoc Bao expressed his feelings.
Although they love Nguyen Ngoc Tu so much, the authors and directors expressed that it is not easy to bring the work from Nguyen Ngoc Tu's story to the stage while ensuring the true spirit and preserving the beauty of Tu.
Nguyen Ngoc Tu's stories often have few characters, under her pen, readers can drift through many spaces and times, and develop their imagination to live with the fate of the characters. However, the stage is sometimes difficult to "fly" like that, and requires many conflicts, dramas, and dramatic actions to be realized on stage.
"In the story, the author can spread across many spaces and times, however, on stage, if there are too many, it can make it difficult to stage and perform. Therefore, to build a script from Nguyen Ngoc Tu's story, the author must understand her literature and spirit in order to create or adapt it carefully, skillfully and delicately" - playwright Hoang Song Viet emphasized.
Respect creativity in other fields
Bui Quoc Bao revealed that he and Nguyen Ngoc Tu are the same age. When Tu was a famous writer, Bao was still unknown. The first time, he was quite nervous when he called to ask to adapt Tu's work, but surprisingly, she agreed immediately.
Not only that, when Quoc Bao suggested that he would give the script back to Tu to review after finishing it, she said no need, saying that literary language and theatrical language are different, and that she respected the creativity of each field. Since then, although he has been inspired by Tu's work many times, Bui Quoc Bao has only worked with Tu over the phone, never meeting in person.
Artist Ai Nhu said she was very grateful, truly happy and pleased to be able to work with writer Nguyen Ngoc Tu.
"Tu respects the creativity of artists in other fields and does not interfere when agreeing to let the stage stage a work based on her story. I invited Tu to the city to watch a play, but it seems Tu only came once. The other times, Tu said if she could arrange it, or if she had the chance, she would come herself to see it. That personality of Nguyen Ngoc Tu makes me love her even more" - Ai Nhu said.
Source: https://tuoitre.vn/san-khau-me-truyen-nguyen-ngoc-tu-20250717095355413.htm
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